The Effaced: Chapter Twenty-Eight (Patreon)

“Alyphize is a Demonic Heir.” I told Haidya, before turning to Kelly and asking him a question.

“How much do you know about Demonic Thrones?” 

“There are eleven and the realm of demons is known as the Fallen Void.” 

“Eleven main ones,” Hadiya interjected. “Lots of minor ones. Then there’s the two Sundered Thrones, but that’s… Off topic.” 

“Right,” I said. “So a Throne is the title for the strongest demon of whatever soul-aspect they’ve dedicated themselves to. Emotions are far and away the most common, and often there are lesser Thrones that are in service to a greater Throne. The Throne of Gambling is one of the larger branches of the Throne of Greed, for example.” 

Kelly bit his lip and nodded. 

“Alright, I guess that makes sense.” 

“Now, the thing is, there’s a reason they’re called Thrones,” Hadiya continued. “It isn’t like an archmage, who is powerful on a personal level. If you kill an archmage, their power is gone. Even harvesting the aura spark only has limited uses.” 

“Not a demonic Throne, though,” Rhys picked up. “The chair itself has the power, not who sits on it. The demon sitting on the chair can tap into all of the accumulated power that the chair’s built up and direct it as they see fit. The person sitting on the chair is called a Throne, because that’s where their power and authority is derived from.” 

“Thrones, even the large ones like Greed or Hate, change more than any other power from another world,” Hadiya interjected. “There’s only ever been one Medb, Ultimate Queen of Winter, as far as we can tell, and only one Titania, Ultimate Queen of Summer. But Thrones change.” 

“Right,” I said. “A Demonic Heir is –” 

“Next in line for the Throne?” Kelly asked. 

“If the current Throne dies of any natural cause like disease, starvation from a lack of soulstuff, succumbing to one of the countless diseases in the void, is impaled on one of the voidspines, or anything else, gets murdered by an external Throne, or steps down,” I said. “That’s an important if. Many Thrones reach their power for a certain goal, and while some do get a taste for power and try to become the new throne in perpetuity, others simply accomplish that goal and step down.” 

“Putting the previous Throne as the heir is generally considered to be the most respectful thing for a challenger to do,” Rhys added. “Well, as long as the previous Throne was actually doing a good job running the Throne.”

“Why would you ever step down?” Kelly asked. “If you can command the complete power of the Throne while you have it, it seems like it would be better to accomplish the goal and stay as it, in case you need the power again?” 

“Sort of,” I said. “A lot do think that way, but if you turn over the Throne, you become a Demonic Impartiate, which is…” 

I trailed off as I tried to come up with an analogy. 

“They don’t really have a direct corollary in Elderglass’ society,” Hadiya said. “It’s a position of neutrality and extreme respect, but it comes with limits. A Demonic Impartiate is treated like royalty, but they have to remain impartial – thus the name. If they re-enter politics, start fights against other demons, or whatever else, they lose that title, instead becoming a Demonic Deposed.” 

“Think of it like a retired politician who’s also an archmage,” I said. “They’re an archmage, so they’ve proven they’re strong and skilled. If they keep out of political affairs and don’t stir the pot, everyone will leave them alone. But if they insert themselves, they’re liable to be messed up.” 

“Not a perfect analogy,” Rhys said. “You have to also pretend that our society treats retirement as some perfect state that disrupting would be anathema. Like if trying to get a retired person to work or fight would be like… I don’t know, shooting puppies or babies or something.”

"It's also worth noting that there's something unique about the Impartiate title," I added. "It renders them largely immune to many of the void's dangers. The demonic beasts leave them alone, disease doesn't effect them, and their need to consume excess soulstuff is all but removed."

“That… is a lot of titles and meanings,” Kelly said, sitting there for a moment while he took it all in. After a few moments, he asked another question. “Alyphize is a Demonic Heir, so… was she a Throne who was defeated but given a mark of respect?” 

“No, she’s the other type,” I said. “Anyone with sufficient power to theoretically command the Throne can be named an Heir. The old Throne of Gambling was broken, then it was repaired by an Aspirant, and when he took power, he named Alyphize, who was the second in command, as his Heir.”

“Aspirant… Guessing that’s someone who wants to make their own Throne?” Kelly asked. 

“Exactly,” I said, nodding. 

“Either that or they’re attempting to restore a Sundered Throne,” Hadiya said. “Or a sundered Throne.”

Though the words were the same, she put a heavier emphasis on the first use of sundered than the second.

“Hadiya,” Rhys said tiredly. “We don’t need to do a full course on demonic politics and lore.”

“Long story short,” I told Kelly. “The two big Sundered Thrones are – in theory – as powerful as any one of the other big Thrones like Pleasure, Pain, Greed, or what have you. But they broke, and nobody’s ever managed to get them back. It’s beyond foolish to try and re-establish them, in part because they’re so old that nobody even remembers what they even were.” 

“Ancient records are contradictory,” Rhys said. “There are some records that one of the Sundered Thrones was the Throne of Pain, but the Throne of Pain is still completely operational, and is actually one of the most common ones. I’ve seen sources from various texts about demons across nearly two thousand years claiming that it’s anything from Apathy to Longing to Intelligence to Willpower to Blood. Not even certain how the last one fits in. Is blood supposed to be a part of the soul? Or is–” 

“Who’s the one who told Hadiya we didn’t need an entire class about ancient history and otherworldly politics?” I asked Rhys, who got slightly pink but nodded. 

“Then there are ordinary sundered Thrones, which are sometimes called broken Thrones, to differentiate them from the big Sundered Thrones,” I said. “Those are just Thrones who had their chair broken, and are trying to gather enough power to repair it. Like what happened to the old Throne of Gambling before Alphyzie’s brother restored it.”

“Then, to summarize. Thrones are people who sit on the fancy chair, and the chair is magic and holds a ton of power that the person sitting on it commands,” Kelly said, then continued when I nodded. 

“Aspirants want to make their own chair, or restore one of the broken big chairs,” Kelly said. “Heirs are usually the second strongest demon, and the one who takes over if the one on the throne dies or retires to become an Impartial.”

“Impartiate, but otherwise, yes, exactly,” Rhys said. 

“Not exactly,” Hadiya said, starting to roll up a cigarette. “There’s a lot of nuance in the interactions. But for a beginner’s guide, there’s only one important thing you’re missing – the magic in the chair requires strength to wield, or else it will just reduce you to ash.” 

“Cool,” Kelly said. “Like a prophetic artifact that only the chosen one can use. Except instead of needing to be pure of heart, you just need to be strong.” 

I resisted the urge to turn the threads of metal in my shirt into a brick, just so I had something convenient to smash my head into.

“To return to why I asked the question, it gives me a solid idea about how much or little power Alyphize has,” Hadiya said, putting her now-rolled cigarette into her mouth and lighting it. “This suggests to me that she’s roughly on the level of a human archmage, perhaps a bit stronger.” 

“In terms of raw strength, I think you’re underestimating her,” I said, remembering what Zone’s demon had said. “The Arenamaster fed the Throne of the Gambler more power than it had seen since its sundering. And as the person who brought that power, Alphyzie would have retained a portion of it. Even if it’s only a fraction, Alphyzie should still be far stronger than an average human archmage. Maybe she’s even as strong as some normal Demonic Thrones, though certainly not any of the eleven.” 

“I see,” Hadiya said, frowning. “Given that the White Rooms was on a Ley Line to the Fallen Void, and that Alphyzie is as strong as you estimate, it explains how she got the strength to open a gate there, but the amount of control it takes to directly transport two humans there? Even if we can reasonably assume she has a strong link to both, it’s worrying. With that much power and finesse, and being linked to someone who strengthened the Throne that much, she should be the current Throne, and place her brother as the Heir.”

“Possibly,” I said, but Rhys pursed his lips. 

“Bonding with someone on a Throne doesn’t guarantee you power from the Throne, but anyone on a Throne grows in strength. Surely the Arenamaster would want Alphyzie to be stronger.” 

I nodded and scrunched my brow together, trying to work out why Alphyzie hadn’t claimed the Throne, when she could, and arguably should have. Even if she didn’t want the power, most demons leapt at the immunities provided by becoming an Inpartiate.

“Why do we keep calling her the Arenamaster?” Kelly asked curiously. “I feel like that’s just giving her what she wants.” 

“Don’t know her real name,” Rhys said distractedly, and I nodded my agreement. My mind was still caught up on the same problem that I’d been working on before.

“Wait!” Kelly said. “Why would the Arenamster kill Zone?” 

“Probably for whatever reason she’s targeting me. Still don’t know why…”

I trailed off as my brain caught up with what Kelly had said, and adrenaline flooded my entire immune system. I whipped my head around. 

“What?!”